A Developing Romance
by Thomassen
Summary: Five years after the break-up of Team Magma and Team Aqua, two former admins find their lives suddenly entangled again. Will this be an easy relationship? Or an emotional rollercoaster?
1. Chapter 1

**ONE**

"Aunt Sheh-wee! Lookie! Pokey-mon!"

"Hold on, Lana, I'm coming."

A little girl about the age of three bounced up and down in front of a fenced-in meadow, pointing at a small group of Poochyena and Houndour that were playfighting in the grass. Behind her followed a young woman with an extraordinary poof of red hair, curled in the back and swept to the side in the front. She was decked out in a combination of blue and black, which interestingly, made her curls stand out even further. A smile was creased on her face as she watched her young niece observe the Pokemon.

Shelly allowed her niece to watch them for a while and took the time to admire the landscape. It was very clean, with little, if any, presence of trash or waste. There was a little ranch house some distance away, but she couldn't tell if it was inhabited or not. And around this little piece of grassland, she could see a few other groups of Poochyena, Mightyena, Houndoor, and Houndoom mingling together. They were obviously very happy here.

But a squeal from one of the Pokemon instantly wiped off the beam gathered on her face. Shelly saw that a couple of the Houndour was holding down a Poochyena.

"Aunt Shelly! They're going to hurt it!" Shelly saw the coming bite from the bullies the same time Lana did. Just as she was about to jump the fence to help - she wasn't one to stand by and let tormentors win battles, after all - a snarl came from behind the two females. Shelly turned to see a Mightyena bounding up the slope with some type of package in its mouth. It squeezed through the fence, dropping the item it was carrying, and proceeded over to the troublemaker Houndour. After a few series of yip and barks, the two were sent sulking to the cabin.

Shelly gasped. That Mightyena that had leaped past them had seemed utterly familiar. In fact, it reminded her of the Pokemon that belonged to her former rival… Harlan. If she remembered correctly, Harlan had a Mightyena with a black nose, not a pink one. And this one had a black nose. It approached her warily, as if still thinking she was an enemy and not one to be trusted.

"Hi, Mightyena," Shelly murmured as she knelt down. She tried her best to look unthreatening, a nervous smile on her face and moving slowly. Instead, the Mightyena froze in place, a growl sounding resonating from its chest. Lana, not seeing the danger, giggled and ran up to throw her arms around the Pokemon known for its deadly bite. "Lana, I don't think you should-"

_"What's the commotion around here, and what's that kid doin' strangling my Mightyena?"_

Shelly turned to see a man marching up the road, a brown sling bag hanging from his shoulder. On top of his head was a black cowboy hat, and his hair had a familiar shaggy texture that was colored purple. It was Harlan. He wore a casual red shirt and dark grey jeans instead of a red hoodie and black packs, but it was Harlan all right. The purple hair was not unrecognizable. Field Commander Harlan of Team Magma. And the minute they both made eye contact him, both of them stopped their movement, shocked expressions on their faces.

"Owie! It bit me!" Shelly's attention swiveled back to her niece, whose shoulder was now oozing red liquid. The Mightyena, frightened half to death, had bounded back toward Harlan.

"Are… you okay, kid?" Harlan walked forward to study the bite wound inflicted on Lana's shoulder.

"Meanie Migh-yena!" Lana's bottom lip stuck out in a pout as she saw the Mightyena close by. It let out a whine of denial.

"What did you do, Mightyena?" Harlan mumbled. "Come on, kid. I'll go fix up your shoulder. You come too, Shelly, since I'm sure you'd suspect me of hurting her." A grin flashed across his features as he walked past her annoyed stance. She could only sigh as she followed Harlan past the fence and toward his cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO**

"You feel all right, kid?" Harlan asked as he finished wrapping up the bandage around Lana's shoulder. Lana only nodded, still sniveling from the pain. Shelly was bubbling with happiness at Harlan's gentle treatment of the kid, though she didn't let it show to the former Team Magma commander.

"Tanku, Meesh-ter Har-wan!" Lana hopped off the chair she was sitting on to go hug him. "I okay, now!" Harlan, though looking uncomfortable, ruffled her hair before turning to the Mightyena standing behind him.

"Mightyena, I thought I told you not to bite the children that pass by." Harlan noticed Mightyena approaching Lana and was about to grab her back when Mightyena launched forward to rub its nose on her hurt shoulder. Lana wailed with fright.

"You've got to be kidding me," Harlan muttered, just loud enough for Shelly to hear. Shelly had a feeling Harlan wasn't too good with kids and knelt down beside her little niece.

"Lana, it's okay!" She brushed away the kid's tears. "Mightyena just wants to play with you!" When Mightyena rubbed up against Lana's hand, Shelly continued to explain, "Look, it's rubbing your hand! I think it wants you to pet it!" Lana's sobs turned to hiccups as Mightyena tapped her hand and her shoulder repeatedly. Then, the wet nose picked under her chin, sending out a mixed fit of giggles and sobs.

Seeing Pokemon and child beginning to enjoy each other's presence, Shelly stepped back with a relieved sigh.

"Tactical Commander Shelly," Harlan sneered. She turned to face him, and saw as usual, his eyes were shadowed by his head wear. He was clearly enjoying himself, with a smirk that spread across his face.

"You know that isn't who I am, Harlan," Shelly scolded. "Not any more, anyway."

"But it was a tough history to escape, wasn't it, Shelly?" Harlan raised his eyes now to peer at his former arch-enemy. "I know some people still dislike me for Team Magma's actions."

"Harlan, I know it's been hard, but you don't have to bring it up now. This was all in the past."

After a short pause, Harlan spoke with a soft whisper: "You were my past." This caught Shelly's attention. "After the Battle of the Legendaries, I found myself unsure of what to do. I wanted so much to ask what you were planning for the future, since I'm sure you would have been out of a job, too. I realize that, as different as Team Magma and Team Aqua's goals were, we were the same. Both vying for power, for trying to help mankind. Both you and I were the same, fulfilling our Boss' orders and doing what we were supposed to do, though granted we were repeatedly thwarted by those kids. For the better, probably."

"Harlan, what are you saying?"

"I- uh… never mind…"

A bewildered look crossed Shelly's face, and Harlan felt sorry for not being able to demonstrate to her how truly happy he was to find her here. Except… the girl. Was it Shelly's daughter? She did have Shelly's bright red hair with the bangs to one side, though it didn't exactly hold the puff that he knew Shelly was known to wear.

"So, who's the kid? Some relative of yours?"

"She's my niece. My sister had some business to take care of today, so I offered to take care of Lana for her."

Harlan nodded. _Okay, first question is a go._ The girl's not her daughter. But perhaps he could somehow entertain them a little longer; be a better friend than he used to be.

He glanced at the clock. _11:58 AM_, it read. "Are you guys hungry? I can whip something up for lun-"

"It's okay, Harlan. I think it was time we were getting back home anyway." Shelly bent down to speak with Lana. Harlan was left mouth hanging half-open and fingers pointing to his stove.

"No, I wanna stay!" Lana was crying as Shelly picked her up. Then, after a whimper, cried, "Bye Meesh-ter Har-wan and Migh-yena!"

Harlan raised his hand in a farewell, a "good-bye" falling off of his lips in a whisper, then the door slammed closed behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**THREE**

When the former Team Aqua Admin returned home later that night, her head was spinning. Her niece had ended up having the best time of her life, though Lana's mother wasn't too particularly happy about having her daughter get bitten by a Mightyena. What was Harlan on about? What he somehow high on drugs? No, it couldn't be. Like her, he'd given up the bad-guy life a long time ago, after realizing that controlling Mother Nature wasn't a good idea. So what was all that mumbo-jumbo with the "she was part of his past"? Did that have anything to do with why Harlan joined Team Magma? She trudged into her room.

Shelly peeled off her outfit of denim jacket, black yoga pants, and tank top, and donned on a simple night gown, a light blue dress that reached down to her thighs, then cruised on downstairs for a midnight snack. Scouring around in her freezer, Shelly pulled out a frozen yogurt bar, which she proceeded to unwrap and take a small bite out of. The strawberry flavored block melted in her mouth, filling it with a delicious sense of sweetness. This usually calmed her down a bit when she was bothered by something. But it didn't.

There was something about Harlan that was different. He'd been a little more… open with her than he had before. Why'd he give her that tirade of the failure of their gangs? And what did he mean by their past? Their past did have some complexities, now that she thought about it.

They had met one day as Harlan was journeying through the Hoenn region, seeking to become a powerful Pokemon trainer, slowly making his way to Evergrande City, where all powerful Pokemon trainers gathered to see who would become the Champion. She remembered their first encounter like it was yesterday...

*****

Harlan plopped down on the porch with a small bowl of chicken noodle, his eyes grazing over the little groups of Pokemon that mingled together. It all seemed very peaceful, everyone getting along and helping each other raise the little Pokemon. But deep inside, Harlan felt strangely disturbed. The visit from Shelly, he knew, had been total coincidence; she hadn't known this ranch belonged to him. But she definitely didn't show much joy in seeing him.

"Shelly... you don't understand..." Harlan's voice was a soft whisper. A gentle prod at his elbow told him Mightyena was sitting by his side. With a heavy sigh, Harlan placed a hand on Mightyena's head. There was a long pause before he turned to talk to his life-long partner.

"You know, biting the little kid wasn't entirely necessary." It was Mightyena's turn to sigh, a quiet whine going along with it. "Kids get that way when they're excited. Kind of like… excited Poochyena, get it?"

There was a blink in his Pokemon's eye, then it nodded slowly, an assenting rumble resonating from its chest. The two friends sat side by side, the young man quietly slurping at his noodles, and Mightyena vigilantly gazing out at its charges.

Harlan's thoughts traveled elsewhere, toward the time when he'd first met Shelly. He had stopped by her mother's lodge in Dewford Town for a gym battle; he had first beaten the Lavaridge gym leader some time last month, then the Rustboro gym leader a few weeks before and was going for his third badge. They had been teenagers that time, both fifteen years of age. Like now, she was haughty and thought very highly of herself. And she was pretty good at handling her Pokemon. He had trouble going past her sneaky attacks…

_"Mudkip! Let's go! Dig into the ground!"_

"Come back up with a Take Down, Mudkip!"

It was then he had learned that Mudkip could learn how to use Dig. His Poochyena had been almost completely overwhelmed before an alternating rapid-fire of Shadow Ball and Iron Tail granted him victory. Even with that, he was impressed with Shelly's prowess, promising her that one day they would have another great battle. Only, that day never happened.

He got tangled up with the beginning marks of Team Magma after he was able to make it to the Top 8 of the Evergrande City Conference. Maxie, knowing that this kid's desire was power, promised that to him, saying that if they could finish their quest, he could have all the strength he wanted. His belief then was that he could impress Shelly and maybe bring her along to join Team Magma, then they, two powerful Pokemon Trainers, could work side by side and make the world a better place. Little did he know that she had been recruited by Team Aqua at around the same time. So much for his 'work side by side' plan.

"Why did I ever join Team Magma?" Harlan muttered. "Maybe Shelly would've done the same and not bothered with Team Aqua. We'd both have better lives, too." His thoughts floundered around a little bit before he settled on an idea.

"Hey, Mightyena? Go ask your friend to help keep an eye on the farm. We're going to go on another little adventure."

Mightyena gave a small croon of surprise, a short, sharp tone that raised in pitch. Its maw turned to face Harlan with an obvious question posed on its face. _Where are we going?_

"I'm going to go look for Shelly. Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her everything. I just… don't know where she is."


	4. Chapter 4

**FOUR**

"Crawdaunt! Masquerain! Ready to go?" Shelly waited by the front door for the Pokemon she called to appear. Masquerain and Crawdaunt came toward her from the bathroom. From the water dripping down their bodies, Shelly knew that they had been playing in the bathtub again.

"There's a person I need to visit, and I'd like you guys to be on your best behavior, okay?" Her Pokemon's assent came, both of them nodding their heads vigorously.

They stepped out of her sister's house in Mauville City, feeling much better now that she decided her goal was to talk to Harley about a possible future. Perhaps instead of jumping around at jobs, they could find something they could work together on…? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "He lives just outside of Fallarbor Town. His ranch shouldn't be hard to miss; it's full of Poochyena and Houndour and a few Mightyena and Houndoom." The little trio headed north, out of town, to hopefully make it to Fallarbor Town.

They stopped under a tree for a break in the afternoon, when the sun was high and beating down on top of them like a giant toaster. Shelly pulled out a few snacks from her backpack: an apple for her, bunches of berries for Masquerain, and some nuts for Crawdaunt. She lay down on the soft grass, staring up at the fluffy, shapeless clouds slowly cruising by above her. They eventually seemed to form shapes, patterns, something for her to see. And… what was that? She found herself looking at an oddly-shaped Tabitha's face. A sad smile slowly broke over her features. She shouldn't have been so harsh with him. As her eyelids slowly slid shut, unshed droplets of tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

*****

"Maybe she lives somewhere nearby, Mightyena," Harlan blurted out when he realized he really had no idea where she lived. "After all, she wouldn't have paid us a visit if she was back on that island of hers, right?"

They had set out early that morning, asking Harlan's partner to keep an eye on the cabin as well as - more importantly - his Pokemon. The purple-haired guy decided to head back to town, the direction he'd come from when he saw Shelly and her niece gazing at the Pokemon. It would be a good start: see if she had come this way the day before.

Harlan set off at a fast-paced walk. If he went at this pace, it would be only afternoon when he made it to Fallarbor Town. Then he could see if she was around. If not, he could probably hitch a ride to Lavaridge Town, which was up the mountain.

His prediction was correct. He entered Fallarbor Town when the sun was high over the sky.

"Harlan!" A cheerful voice called him over from the left, a familiar one. Turning his head, he saw the lady that managed the local café waving him over. She wore something similar to one of those french maid dresses, though less provocative and exposing. It was longer, the collar was located around her neck, and the sleeves less poofy.

"Uh… hi, Kohi," Harlan stammered. She gestured to a chair, which he assumed he was supposed to sit down in. So he did.

"It's not often you come to town two days in a row," she queried. "So, what brings you here?"

As always, she set down a hot mug of coffee in front of him. When he began to talk, her elbows propped up on the table, face held up by her hands as she listened. There was an odd, entranced smile on her lips.

"An old friend came by yesterday with her niece. They stayed a while to play with the Pokémon, but not long. I wanted to ask if you saw a lady with some bright red curls pass by here?" The smile on Kohi's face immediately faded. Harlan, not noticing anything wrong, continued: "She likes to wear blue - which is strange yet cool with that red hair of hers. You couldn't have missed it. Her hair looks like it went through some serious business. It's long… it's got major curls… and it stands out like nothing other."

"Nope, I didn't see any likes of her," Kohi mumbled. She turned away to take some orders and left Harlan brooding in his thoughts. He took a sip at the coffee, though it was something he had never really liked. Coffee still tasted bitter and unsweet to him; how others considered it 'sweet' was beyond his understanding. Harlan slipped a coin onto the counter, then walked back out.

So Shelly hadn't come through Fallarbor Town. It was time to see if Lavaridge had been a destination. It was a logical place. Lavaridge was just a little south of here, and there was an old route he knew that led directly to it. He would stock up on supplies here in Fallarbor; there were plenty of fruits and vegetables being sold here that he could eventually whip into something good. Then, Lavaridge City, they go.


End file.
